Trunk or Treat

I had been looking for a place to take the kids trick or treating, but the only thing I came up with was going to cost 14 euros per kid which is kinda steep for any kid much less an 18 month old and 3 year old.  Luckily some friends let us go with them to the Trunk or Treat at the Garrison.

Kevin was a Tiger and Kherington was Rapunzel.  It was freezing and a little rainy.  Kherington didn't want much to do with it.  I don't it helped that I forgot her thick jacket so she was pretty freezing.  Kevin wanted nothing to do with dark areas or people with masks, but aside from that if someone had a bowl of candy he would walk right and take a hug scoop to put into his bag.  A couple times older kids walked up to him because he looked so cute and he thought they wanted to give him candy from their bags :). 

Halloween Party 2012

Late Sunday night, I was laying in bed and decided it would be fun to do a little Halloween party.  We had already bought pumpkins, but didn't have time to paint them over the weekend.  Plus after Halloween last year I had ordered a bunch of cheap Halloween stuff from Oriental Trading.  So I sent out an email to some friends for a last minute lunch & pumpkin painting that Wednesday.  A little on the last minute side of things, but we ended up having a great turn out (6 adults and 13 kids)...and lucky for us it was beautiful weather so we were able to do the painting outside and the kids could run wild.

Everything went awesome.  I made pizza (pumpkin, Frankenstein & normal), candy corn veggies (cauliflower, yellow peppers, carrots), hummus, Halloween trail mix and jello worms (which sadly I forgot to put out).  People also brought a couple things to add to the spread.

We ate, played, painted, glued, chatted and just plain had a good time.  I know sometimes I feel like I can't have many people over because our place is on the small side but it was awesome and much needed.   I love watching my kids have so much fun.  I love that we have friends from all over the place speaking many different languages, but being able to relax with English speakers is something I think every expat appreciates.

We had so much fun that neither of my kids got a nap.  At 5:50 I found Kherington in her bed. 

*I have a rule about not letting kids sleep between 4pm and 6pm because if they do they either think it's just a nap or don't go down very well at night so I woke her up and made her eat dinner, bath and get pj's on.

Kherington 3.5 years old update

Kherington is 3.5 years old!  She is such a cute, independent girl.  She loves doing crafty things and 'helping' me in the kitchen.  She is a great big sisters.  I know I've said it before, but she will not take naps when I tell her to, but if she disappears for awhile I usually find her asleep somewhere.  I think the funniest time she asked me for a big carrot and in the minute it took me to peel it she had relocated to the hallway and fallen asleep on the pillow. 

What else?  She...

• will try most food
• loves peppers and hummus
• loves playing with friends
• navigates the computer entirely on her own
• still wears a diaper at night (hoping to cut that out sooner than later)
• tells me her daddy said it was okay when I tell her 'no' (most of the time daddy's not even home to say yes or no)
• love chocolate
• has branched out from her pink, pink, pink color loving
• is still learning her letters but has A, B, E, K and R down
• still calls daddy 'dadoo'

Sibling Photos

I love this photo sequence.  I think it fits my kids so well.  Haha.

The kids like hiding in our closets and this time they found daddy's ties.  Kevin was wearing a red/black one, but took it off to concentrate on the camera :).  Then tonight for FHE after a short lesson (think 1 minute), we sang "Popcorn Popping" and made popcorn.  They both love to help and love to eat.

I might not always be the most patient mom in the world, but we try to have fun.  I like to be able to look back through these pictures and smile.  I have some awesome kids :).

Kevin's 18 Months

Kevin is a happy little man unless he is told 'no' then the world ends and he screams, kicks, cries, and flails.  

Food - He loves to eat.  He knows where the snack drawer is, can open it, and will bring me one snack after the next until I say yes to something.  He never takes the orange bowls/plates because those are Kherington's so when I ask him to get a bowl/plate he runs and throws aside everything until he find a blue or green one...this means that our pasticware cupboard is never organized.

Bed - As of a couple days before he turned 18 months, he is out of the crib and into the bottom bunk of the bunk bed.  He doesn't yet know how to climb the ladder, but can get on and off the bottom bunk by himself.

Sleep - He goes down pretty well for nap time and typically naps a good 2 hours.  He normally doesn't go down until 12:30 or 1, but if we're driving around he'll fall asleep at 11.  After nap he likes to cuddle with his mommy.  However, during the night time or in the morning, he want his daddy not his mommy.  He loves his monkey (named Theodore).


Nursery - YES!  Today was his first Sunday in Nursery.  What a happy day for mom & dad...not so much for Kevin.  He screamed the first hour (like you could hear him anywhere in the church scream) so Ryan ended up going in with him but was fine for the second hour.  Hopefully he starts to love it sooner than later.

Other - He loves music, dancing, baths, the park, dogs, cars, trains, bananas and his sister.  He is very independent (just like his sis) and we love him!

Yet another Kevin the climber picture, plus Kevin the artist and Kevin n' friends :). I watched a friend's little girl for two mornings one week and it was fun. It is amazing to me how much easier kids are when they have a friends around.

Passing the Bug

Kherington started our family with the stomach flu.

Then I got it for two days.  I don't normally catch what the kids have, but apparently it wasn't my lucky day.  I can't remember the last time I felt so weak.  Not only did I throw up multiple times (I will do almost anything to not throw up) but my whole body was in pain and I had zero energy.  I laid on my bed while the kids did whatever they wanted.  I had to go get Kherington from school and I couldn't believe how much energy it took to get out the door and walk 3 minutes to his school.

Next up was Kevin.  Ryan had an all day/night team building activity a couple hours away on a Friday night and I thought I'd get a lot of stuff done.  Kids went down then about 30 minutes later Kevin was pounding on the door.  I opened it up to a great big whiff of throw-up.  I'm not sure how much of it was actually the flu instead of having something large stuck in his throat from not chewing before swallowing.  He came out of his room ready to play and I let him while I sprayed down his bedding and did a couple loads of laundry get get it all clean.

To finish it up Ryan got it and just his luck he got it on a weekend so he didn't get to use his free sick days.

Now that we've all been sick, I'm hoping we are done for the next year :).

Visiting Teaching and Throw-up = Memories Made

Kevin had his fun and Kherington was not to be left out...she got sick, but not nearly as bad/scary as Kevin's seizure.

We had some friends over for lunch/playing right after school.  They left, Kevin was already down for nap time and Kherington had what I like to call 'quiet movie time'.  She can watch a movie but has to be quiet :).  All was well.

I was going visiting teaching so we pulled Kevin out of bed (he woke up happy) and got both the kids in the car.  Kherington fell asleep on the drive over.  Not a huge shocker.  I woke her up when we got to our destination and we went inside and up to the playroom.  She wasn't acting like her normal self.  She went potty on her own while I was chatting.  Then came back and laid on the floor complaining about her tummy.  It might be a bad habit, but for he most part when my kids whine I try to ignore them keep doing what I'm doing.  Finally, I knelt down and scooped her up.  I had almost got her head over my shoulder and she threw up...in her hair, all down my front and back, in my purse (which was unzipped and on my shoulder), and on the rug.  I had to stand straight up without moving my feet so I didn't step in any of the throw up which was a challenge in itself.  The shower room was just down the hall so I took her there...we were both cover in throw-up and just our luck, there was a HUGE spider chilling in the bathtub.  It was so big it looked fake.  Our friend killed it for us and we got Kherington undressed and into the tub.

This wasn't exactly the visiting teaching experience I was going for.  Then Kevin was whining so much that I put him in the tub also.  They were happy, so I went to pull out the lesson from my purse...well, it was covered in throw-up.  Haha.  This just keeps getting better.  No worries, our friend took a couple pictures of this whole experience.  Oh the joy of making memories :).  We'll see if she ever lets me come back to visit.

In the end, Kherington ended up having more stuff come out both ends before we left.  Luckily she was fine on the drive home.  The rest of the day she's just been laying around watching movies and occasionally throwing up her lemon lime soda.

I'm hoping we didn't give any of our lunchtime friends the flu and that now that each kid has had their sickness for the year we can be done until next year